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Monday, December 29, 2008

So Big Will says he's down to Florida, Miami and LSU. We'll see soon enough. Count me skeptical. He says he likes the "Southern Family Thing":

In describing what he liked most about Florida, Miami and LSU, Campbell said during the Rivals.com interview that "they all showed the Southern family thing.

The entire interview, with some nationwide type rivals guy is here. I'm still not convinced, this a pretty off the cuff type interview with some "dude" breaking some news. FWIW Big Will mentions Chris Davenport a Defensive Tackle from Mansfield Louisiana, who received an offer from Michigan, but who has verbally committed to LSU:

I'm guessing that Big Will doesn't have a lot of "southern family". I'll also take a stab in the dark and say Will probably has some family in Detroit that he really does like. What part of family is it that Will was thinking about when he called Davenport a real cool guy and declared LSU, Miami and Florida his temporary recruiting leaders? Or was he just toying with the media, and M fans?

Leslie Miles Offers Southern Hospitality.

LSU does have some experience with that southern hospitality, though. There are many types, but this is the type of family recruits can expect to see when they visit LSU:

The NYT just posted an article on the recruiting battle for Jamarkus McFarland. It doesn't have any direct relationship to Big Will, but there are certainly some interesting anecdotal comparisons:

On Oct. 25, McFarland, his mother and his grandmother attended a catered meal at the home of Tigers Coach Les Miles.

“He was very dry,” Adams said of Miles. Adams was further turned off by L.S.U., she said, when she saw hostesses sitting on the laps of recruits.

And, LSU also offers this style of southern hospitality:

Ulitimately, McFarland chose Oklahoma. The "southern hospitality" turned off his mother so much she prohibited him from going to LSU.

One of her dislikes about Louisiana State was that a maid would clean her son’s dorm room weekly.

And though Texas offered parties, drugs and girls, he and Mom said "no" and he ultimately chose Oklahoma. Let's hope that Big Will is having some of the same issues, and comes around.

The NYT article is worth a read. Not only does it offer a small glimpse into the big time sleeze recruiting in the SEC and Texas, but it also says something about Texas Coach Mac "Falt Screen" Brown. For instance:

Flat-screen televisions were in every room, and there were two outside.“Whose house do you like better, Bob Stoops’s, Les Miles’s or mine?” Adams recalled Brown saying.